La Cumbre volcano
01-05-2024
10:21 AM
1 min read
Overview:
Recent lava spewing from La Cumbre volcano on Galápagos Islands destroying habitat of rare land iguanas.
About La Cumbre volcano:
- It is located on Fernandina Island – the third largest island in the Galápagos Islands.
- It lies directly atop the mantle plume, or hotspot, that produced all of the Galápagos Island.
- It is located around 1,125 kilometres off mainland Ecuador and erupted for the first time since 2020
- The volcano has a large crater, or caldera, at its summit that harbors a permanent crater lake.
- This lake attracts a wide variety of animals including tens of thousands of Galápagos land iguanas (Conolophus subcristatus) that lay their eggs in nests within the caldera.
Key facts about Galápagos land iguana
- It is one of three species of land iguana endemic to the Galapagos Islands (the others being the Santa Fe land iguana and the Galapagos pink land iguana).
- It is a very large species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. It is primarily an herbivore species.
- This large cold-blooded reptile has a mutualistic relationship with finches, which can often be seen sitting on their backs, picking ticks from between their scales.
- It is active during the day, spending their time foraging or basking on rocks; at night they sleep in burrows.
- Conservation status
IUCN: Vulnerable
Q1: What is a crater?
It is a bowl-shaped depression, or hollowed-out area, produced by the impact of a meteorite, volcanic activity, or an explosion.
Source: Lava spewing from volcano on Galápagos Islands destroying habitat of rare land iguanas